


Funny How Things Happen

by orphan_account



Category: Running Man (Korean Variety)
Genre: Crack, F/M, Korean Characters, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-30
Updated: 2011-08-30
Packaged: 2017-10-23 06:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/247174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started as a joke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Funny How Things Happen

**Author's Note:**

> For my Tumblr BFF, @facephase.

\---

 

It started as a joke. A play for the cameras, a smart-ass comment from so-called Calm Gary. They'd been shy around each other, the CF Queen and the smooth rapper; he felt something draw himself towards her and, later, out the words came like they were always meant to be said.

 

The game continued, the joke grew. A love line, they said. Nothing serious, nothing real.

 

As he drowned another shot of soju, he couldn't help but scoff at how real it had become.

 

\---

 

It started as a joke. Out of left field, and she'd been encouraged to go along with it. "What can it hurt?" her manager had laughed, pushing a contract towards her for another CF she wasn't sure she wanted to do.

 

Then again, she wasn't sure of much anymore, and she signed herself away again.

 

\---

 

It's Haha who picks up on it first. Slowly, pricking at it like he always did; eventually Gary's mouth opened and nothing could have stopped the words from coming out.

 

"I love her," and he felt like a stupid fuck who'd never been with a woman.

 

"I know you do." Haha slapped him on the back, and pulled him into a hug. "We all know you do."

 

It took fifteen minutes until his phone was beeping constantly -

 

Gwang-soo: _hyung make her a pie. she loves pie_  
Gil: _id tell u to write a song but u suck at it - kekeke_  
Joong-ki: _I'll give up on her but i get to give the speech at your wedding okay hyung?!_

 

Then the rest. One, two, three, and Gary had to laugh at the people who knew him even more than he knew himself.

 

\---

 

The change was slight, but she sensed it. He stopped touching her around the wrist, in that way that made her skin tingle for hours afterwards, stopped sharing his Coke and stopped giving her lifts from one end of the car park to the other. He just - stopped. Talking to her between takes, texting her new songs to download, making up raps about everything around them.

 

He stopped looking at her the way that he did - the way that made her head itchy and her forehead furrow - and it hurt.

 

 _You don't know what you got til it's gone,_ and she rings her mother to ask what it means.

 

There's a pause at the end of the phone, the open line buzzing as she can almost hear her mother trying to form the words.

 

"Ji-Hyo."

 

"What? What."

 

"You'll understand soon."

 

And it's only when she hears the dog bark in the background and her mother fussing over it that it hits her like a freight train.

 

 _You don't know what you got til it's gone_ , and the thought almost breaks her heart in two.

 

\---

 

She's spending more time with Haha, because he's asking her to, and because it seems to soothe the sting of Gary's distance. At first, she thinks it's Haha's way of apologising for treating her so oddly at the beginning of _Running Man_ , but soon they slide into an easy friendship that sees them shopping for sneakers like it's a normal everyday thing.

 

"Are you seeing someone?" He throws it at her as his back faces her, pulling a pair of Pumas on his feet like he's not asking her the twenty-five million dollar question. A pose in the mirror, and finally he looks at her expression.

 

Her mouth is open, and it's gaping like a goldfish. Haha smiles, in that way she knows is usually attached to a scheme that's coming together _just right_ , and she's infuriated and exhilarated because a question like that could only come from one - mutual - place.

 

 _Gary._

 

"I know it's not polite to ask these things, but. Y'know."

 

She barely hears Haha speak, as he's pulling the sneakers off and putting them back in the box without looking back at her. The shop girl comes over and he hands them the box, before sitting back down to put his shoes back on.

 

"Oppa."

 

Without warning, Haha stands up and walks over to her, kissing her on the top of the head in a show of affection that makes her eyes tear, before pulling back to look her squarely in the eye.

 

"The first song. From the new album. It's about you." He pulls a CD out from his satchel and hands it to her. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for you two to screw around. And I know he's not going to do anything, Ji-Hyo. So be the badass I know you are and make the move."

 

And he gives her that smile - that Haha smile - and he waltzes to the cash register like he'd just ordered a burger at McDonald's.

 

\---

 

"You're going to be in the video."

 

"What?" Gary shook his head. "You know I hate that shit."

 

Gil groaned. "One time. That's it. It's the lead single, hyung. You know I hate this shit, too, but come on. Just once."

 

"What's the plot."

 

"Girl meets boy. Boy charms girl. The end."

 

"Through rap?"

 

"Through rap." Gil leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands over his chest. "And. Song Ji-Hyo's gonna be the girl."

 

" _What!?_ "

 

\---

 

" _What?!_ " Ji-Hyo's manager started to shake her head. "You've got the video for 2PM and a hundred other things and -"

 

Ji-Hyo put her hand on the coffee table. "I want to do this for my oppa. You understand, right?"

 

\---

 

"You can't expect me to _dance the fucking tango_ , do you?!"

 

"First lesson tomorrow night. I'll text you the details."

 

Gil waited until he was out in the hallway before dialling Haha's number. "We're on. He'll be there."

 

\---

 

To say it's awkward would be an understatement.

 

He felt twelve years old again, at his first school dance; his hands were clammy as she stood off to the side of the dance studio, watching the instructor with great interest.

 

The instructor was nice, if a little bossy, and he throws Ji-Hyo against Gary's chest in a move that makes them both jump a little. They're nose-to-nose, her eyes looking down at her feet in a not-so-smooth distraction technique.

 

She's warm, and fits him perfectly. Her heart is racing, her hands trembling a little, and he allows himself to breathe her in, if only for this moment.

 

\---

 

Ji-Hyo wants to swear at her body for betraying her. But he smells like soap - clean, with a tinge of something woody she can't place, and the heat from his skin is almost enough for her to break and run for the door.

 

Except, she realises - suddenly, like the proverbial light bulb moment - nothing could pull her from his arms, and she was more afraid of that than anything else.

 

\---

 

Three hours later, and they're tired. Tired of dancing, of the instructor, and of pretending to be _just friends_. It's almost a relief when the power cuts off, a result of the storm that's raging over Seoul outside the dance studio's windows,and they're left together in the dark while the instructor scrambles for candles.

 

"Ji-Hyo."

 

"Hmmm?"

 

"Are you there?" He's fumbling for her in the dark, and she has this stupid thought that _he could probably always find me_. Like they're connected or something ridiculous like that, and she mentally berates herself for being so juvenile; for wanting him to have that ability. Like he would be the only one who ever knew where she was, and where to always find her, and she feels the itchy feeling again as her palms begin to sweat and her brow furrows.

 

"Candles, candles," bustles the dance instructor, and the room fills with flickering light. "You are right to ride out the storm in here."

 

Gary frowns, and points to the window. "The storm's pretty oka…" Waving his arms, the instructor cuts him off impatiently.

 

"Stay. The storm is too intense. Practice. Get me in the office when you're done."

 

The instructor is gone in a cloud of Dolce and Gabbana, muttering about watching _The Greatest Love_ on his laptop. It's here that Gary begins to suspect something's odd about the situation - the storm is nothing but a drizzle now, and it's weird it knocked the power out, too - but he pushes it aside to concentrate on the awkward, heavy mood between him and the woman to his left.

 

"So." Ji-Hyo taps her nails on the floor. "I like the new album."

 

"Thanks."

 

Silence.

 

"Maybe we should -"

 

"We should practice."

 

Up on their feet, facing each other - neither knows where to put their hands and the awkward laughter breaks through the silence with the force of a thousand decibels.

 

She's beautiful, he thinks, and he allows himself a moment of self-indulgence as they begin to fumble into position. He wonders what it's like to wake up next to her, to cook bibimbap and watch bad American movies on a lazy Saturday night, fighting for the remote and blanket - what it's like to create a life with someone who was obviously put on earth to be the better half of a rapper-actress pair, and he almost runs from the room.

 

 _We know you love her, hyung._

 

 _Man the fuck up, Kang!_

And it's here that he reaches for her - his heart beating so hard he's sure she can hear it - his arm circling her waist and she's snug in his arms. They're moving, slowly, their eyes locked together and their feet in perfect time.

Her breath is coming erratically, and he draws her closer to him to execute a perfect, flower-throwing dip before pulling her roughly back into his arms.

They're both panting now, and it's only when they break apart from the kiss that they realise they've actually done it.

"Again," she breathes, her voice cracking slightly. Gary hears the rain on the glass like it's amplified in his ears, and he wants to remember her just like this. Always like this.

Slowly he dips his face towards her again - playfully, painfully, until she grabs the back of his neck and begins kissing him with a fervor that matches his own.

Hands under shirts, over skin, and it's everything both of them thought it would be. Stumbling, fumbling towards becoming something more than just the Monday Couple, something sure and stable and it's beautifully funny all at the same time.

"Ji-Hyo," he mutters against her mouth, and she manages a "oppa" before kissing him again. And again.

"I love you."

He manages to catch her when her legs give out, and she begins to laugh - at the absurdity of the situation and at how long it took them to get here. A variety show, a cup of coffee from a museum vending machine, a love line and a meddling bunch of friends, and she laughs again before covering his face with kisses.

And then, in typical Ji-Hyo fashion, she lets out a cry that they'd probably hear all the way in Ilsan -

"I love you, Kang Gary!"

\---

Two doors down from the studio, near a circuit breaker box, Haha and Gil lean against the wall when they hear - to their great delight - a couple of declarations of love in the middle of a rainy Seoul night.

It's here they look at each other, shake hands and flick the lights back on.

Funny how things happen.

\---

 _  
_Fin._   
_

 

\---


End file.
